Overall Teaching

In this chapter, the yakṣa king Saṃjñāya vows to protect where this Sūtra is heard and accepted. He explains that he is called Saṃjñāya because all is known to him. He vows to adorn the preaching monk’s speech.

Summary

1.     The yakṣa[1] general Saṃjñāya[2] said to the Buddha:

a.     Wherever this Sūtra goes forth, even where a single verse or a single name of a buddha or bodhisattva is preserved, there the yakṣas will protect the one who hears and accepts it and their dwelling place.

b.     He asks why he was called Saṃjñāya, and explains that it was because by him all things are known and apparent to him. The sphere and splendour of his knowledge is inconceivable by all beings and operates among all things.

c.    In order to adorn the preaching monk’s speech, he will endue him with energy, knowledge, mindfulness, zeal, and joy so that beings may hear this Sūtra, attain merit and wisdom and eventually meet the buddhas and attain full awakening.[3]

[1] A yakṣa (Pāli: yakkha) or yakṣiṇī (female) is a nature spirit, guardian of the earth and trees and hidden treasures. They have various powers that they use for protection. The most famous is Vajrapāṇi, who is also a bodhisattva (this is also the name of a Buddha). Some yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs are malevolent and were subdued by the Buddha with the use of a mantra or sutra.

[2] “Perception” or “Clear Knowledge.”

[3] While on the purely literal level, this is talking about another being protecting this Dharma and this Sūtra, on a more metaphorical level we could perhaps think of this chapter as encapsulating the manner in which the Dharma is upheld and protected by the natural world because it is not in conflict with the natural world—it is an affirmation of the nature of the world and how to use it for transcending the ordinary level of being.